Mama Bear
by TheFreakWithTheWings
Summary: Everything changes after Mustafar because Padmé is a werebear.
1. Grin and Bear It

A/N: This is very much self-indulgence. Also, stream-bears are the Nubian equivalent of grizzly bears, except they are pack animals.

0o0o0

Padmé hadn't Changed at all since she learned about her pregnancy.

She didn't do it all that much before then, not when she spent so much of her time on Coruscant, where people have such a strong distrust of beings with more than one form.

Sometimes she wondered what her friends would say if they knew that she wasn't just human. She hoped that they would remember her, that they would look beyond the stereotype of the feral monster that Shifters have been forced into. Sometimes she thought that Anakin had guessed that she was a Shifter. He never said anything though, so she never said anything either. She would have told him, but he had mentioned that a Shifter had lived among the Tuskens that had killed his mother. The way he spoke of them stilled her tongue.

There was lore, among her family, that if the mother could resist Changing for the entire pregnancy, then the children would be stuck in one form. Padmé wanted that for her child. She wanted them to live free from lies and secrets, to not have to conceal their true nature from all but their closest family.

What non-Shifters didn't realize was that having two forms didn't make them animals or monsters; it was a survival instinct like fight or flight, just enhanced by genes or the Force or something. Padmé had learned to control it even better than most; her life had been in danger often enough that if she Changed on instinct her secret would have been out within the first year of her term as Queen of Naboo.

Now though, as Anakin glared at her with hate-filled yellow eyes and his grip on the Force choked the breath from her lungs, Padmé closed her eyes and Changed on purpose.

Padmé's second form was that of a stream-bear, one of the few terrestrial predators of Naboo. Her body expanded outward and upward, her hands becoming paws and growing claws, her nose elongating into a snout, brown fur covering her entire body, her ears moving up and back. Her clothes were shredded by her Change.

Padmé had never had a chance to realize how small and weak her husband appeared when she was in her second form. Appearances, of course, were deceiving.

A wave of fury swept over her. Everything she had worked for had been destroyed, and the man in front of her had actively participated in its destruction and then had the audacity to call _her_ the traitor. However, Padmé had learned how to control and conceal her emotions, so all she did was drop down to all fours and _roar_ her anger and anguish at Anakin.

Anakin's Force grip on her throat slipped in his shock, and Padmé took the chance to run back to her ship. She barely even noticed Obi-Wan as she passed him.

Some of the stereotypes about Shifters had a grain of truth to them. For example, it was claimed that Shifters succumbed to their animal instincts when they Changed. This was false, but it was true that her instincts were a little stronger in her second form. Right now, her strongest instinct was to protect her child, and the only way to do that was to get _away_.

Away from Anakin, away from Obi-Wan, away from Mustafar and its rivers of lava. Her child wasn't safe around any of them.

Padmé changed back once she got onto the ship, naked and sobbing, her baby kicking frantically.

"Padmé, no!" Anakin cried from outside the ship. The sound of a lightsaber igniting reached her ears, and then another. "Come back!"

Someone bounded up the ramp, their boots thumping with every step, then hit the button to raise it back up.

Anakin howled in outrage, but his cries came from farther away. Obi-Wan was the one who had boarded then, not her deranged husband.

He carefully draped his cloak over her as he passed on his way to the cockpit. Padmé clutched it around herself as she listened to the hum of the ship starting up and taking off, taking simple comfort from its warmth and allowing her tears to run out. She carefully pushed herself off the ground and joined Obi-Wan in the copilot's seat.

Padmé stared avidly at the ceiling so as not to glance down at Mustafar to catch a glimpse of Anakin as they flew away. She also felt a little embarrassed, both because Obi-Wan caught her crying and because she had been naked whilst doing so.

"Are you alright?" Obi-Wan asked carefully.

"I-I think so," Padmé rasped, her words scraping against her bruised and aching throat. She coughed a few times, then looked over at him. "We need to find a neutral med center though."

"Yes, of course. Will it be safe?" he asked, plugging coordinates into the navcomp. The ship then leapt into hyperspace.

"Because I'm a Shifter, you mean?" she asked defensively.

"Well, I was thinking more of the bounties each of us are sure to have on our heads soon, but that works too."

"The government is in chaos right now," Padmé said, thinking out loud. "It will probably be a while before anyone realizes that you survived and I've disappeared, and it will take them even longer to connect the two."

"Unless Vader tells his Master," Obi-Wan pointed out.

"Vader? Who's that?" Padmé asked.

Obi-Wan sighed, grief making him look far older than he was. "Darth Vader is the name that was given to Anakin when he Fell by Sidious, the Sith Lord we've been searching for since the Invasion of Naboo."

Like lightning striking metal, Padmé realized the identity of Sidious. "It's Chance- I mean Emperor Palpatine, isn't it. He said he was attacked by the Jedi, and he's always been close to Anakin. It makes sense."

"It does, unfortunately," Obi-Wan sighed. "The Jedi Council was suspicious of all the power he was accumulating in the Senate, but we thought that the Sith Lord might have been a member of his staff, one of his allies."

"The Jedi weren't the only ones to think so. I was part of a group of Senators, the Delegation of 2000, who were trying to relieve Palpatine of some of his powers. We - ow," she winced, wrapping her arms around her stomach. "How long until we reach that med center?"

"A few hours," Obi-Wan said.

"That's good. Everything I've read suggests that labor can last for hours or days once the contractions start. We have plenty of time," Padmé said.

"You're in labor!" Obi-Wan squeaked.

0o0o0

They arrived at Polis Massa three hours later. Padmé's water broke at the end of the second hour, after which Obi-Wan had commed Yoda and Bail to let them know where they were going and why. The pain from the contractions was enough that Padmé would partially Change some of her extremities. She accidentally shredded the sleeves of Obi-Wan's cloak that way.

Finally, after six hours of increasingly agonizing pain, she gave birth to first Leia and then, to everyone's surprise, Luke.

Back on board Padmé's ship, Obi-Wan cradled Leia while Padmé fed Luke as they all figured out what to do next.

"Strong in the Force, your children are," Yoda said. "Split up, they must be, to conceal their growing bond."

"I can take Leia," Bail volunteered. "Breha and I have always wanted a daughter."

Padmé huffed a silent laugh, not looking up from her son's tiny face. "I'm a Shifter, Bail, and my children will be as well. All it will take is one loss of control, which children don't have in great quantities anyways, and Anakin will know that she is his."

"Darth Vader, you mean," Yoda chided.

"There is still good in him," Padmé insisted. "And therefore I will call my husband by his name, Anakin, and not the name a Sith Lord gave to him."

"Hmm," was all Yoda had to say in response to that.

"If I may," Obi-Wan began, "I could go with them, Master Yoda, and keep their presence in the Force suppressed until they are old enough to learn how to shield."

"Our last hope, they are. Ever vigilant, you must be," Yoda cautioned.

Obi-Wan bowed his head over Leia's sleeping form. "Of course. I believe we should go to Tatooine. The Empire would never think to look for us there."

"Not to mention Anakin hates it with a passion," Padmé said.

"Hmm. To Dagobah, I will go. Live in exile, I must," Yoda announced.

"I can fly you there," Bail offered. "It isn't too much of a detour between here and Alderaan."

"Stay safe, Bail. The Empire will be watching all members of the Delegation closely for signs of a rebellion," Padmé said.

"Padmé, my dear, I have no doubt that you already have plans to create a rebellion of some kind, so I won't do anything until you contact me," Bail promised, smiling wryly. "Until we meet again."

Bail and Yoda left after that, and Padmé and Obi-Wan didn't linger long on Polis Massa either. Fifteen minutes after Bail's ship jumped to hyperspace, the new family was on its way to Tatooine and the start of their new lives as fugitives.


	2. Bear in Mind

To say that Vader was angry was akin to claiming that being stabbed with a lightsaber only burned a little. He had briefly sated it by taking out the Separatist leaders, but then Obi-Wan had shown up, sparking his fury to even greater heights.

Padme had betrayed him, had brought Obi-Wan to kill him.

He regretted it now, choking her. He hadn't been thinking too clearly at the time, conscious thought swept away by anger, but now Vader realized that Obi-Wan had tricked Padme into betraying him. He was, however, furious that Padme had kept such a big secret from him. How could she not tell him that she was a Shifter? Did she think he would hate her? He was incapable of hating her, not truly.

But now they were gone; Kenobi had kidnapped his wife. Vader had already planned on killing him for turning Padme against him, but now he wanted to draw it out painfully. That Jedi had no right! Kenobi knew nothing of love, much less what he and Padme felt for each other.

Kenobi hadn't been able to get the ship away fast enough though. Vader had managed to attach a tracker to it, and after he contacted his Master, he would hunt down the Jedi and get his wife back.

He stalked back onto his ship, wiped the last traces of tears off of his cheeks, and commed his Master.

"Lord Vader, have the Separatist leaders been taken care of?" Sidious asked.

"Yes, my Master, but-" Vader began, but was cut off.

"Good, good. I need you to return to Coruscant now."

"But, Master-" he tried to speak again.

"Are you disputing my orders, my young apprentice?" Sidious demanded pleasantly.

"No Master." Vader denied, his anger rising again. Why would his Master not listen? He didn't have time to return to Coruscant, not now.

"I can sense your anger. Do you seek to usurp me already, apprentice?" Sidious' face twisted into a snarl, yellow eyes flashing.

"No, Master."

"I expect to see you in a few hours," Sidious said, then disconnected the comm.

"Yes Master," Vader said to nothing.

For a moment he considered disobeying, chasing off after Padme and Kenobi despite his Master's orders, leave Sidious to his beloved Empire. But he couldn't. Not when there was still the chance that Padme and the baby could die. It was only one more month before the baby was supposed to be due, so Vader would have to learn the technique invented by Plagueis quickly. Then he could kill Sidious and lay the entire galaxy at Padme's feet, raise their child in true peace.

He started up his ship and flew back to Coruscant, leaving the fire and lava of Mustafar behind him.

0o0o0

After hours and hours of a completely useless ceremony designed to introduce his new role to the Empire, Vader was angry enough that his control over his temper was fracturing. Finally, _finally_ , all that he had left to do was make his last report to the Emperor, then he was free.

Vader bowed before his Master's throne. "Master, is there anything else?"

"Yes, I just received a report that I believe might interest you. Apparently Senator Amidala has fled Coruscant in the company of the Jedi Kenobi. I'm afraid your wife has likely betrayed you, if she is keeping Kenobi's company," Sidious said pleasantly.

"I know, Master. They came to Mustafar, but they escaped before I could capture them," Vader explained. It was basically the truth.

"Need I remind you that the Jedi are traitors? Why, Yoda himself tried to assassinate me not long ago, and now I hear that you let them go!" Sidious screeched.

"I was about to pursue them when you called me back Master," Vader tried to explain.

Lightning shot out from Sidious' hands, and Vader collapsed, just barely catching himself on his hands before his face smashed into the floor. The pain was unbearable, and he screamed with it. Vader had been electrocuted before, but Force Lightning always felt worse. He didn't know how long it lasted, only that he had to endure it. Sidious would not be the one to kill him, not now, not ever. Later, when his Master had finished torturing him, Vader promised himself that he would rip his heart out and feed it to the worms.

"Get up, you fool," Sidious snarled. "You must hunt down those traitors and execute them."

"But Master," Vader gasped. "Padmé is no traitor."

Sidious snorted. "She is aiding and abetting a Jedi. That is treason. Don't worry, your child is not a traitor, we won't blame him for the crimes of his mother."

Vader gritted his teeth, sensing that any more protests would only earn him more torture. "As you wish, my Master. I shall return as soon as I find them."

0o0o0

Vader finally located the tracker to a small asteroid named Polis Massa. The asteroid was home to a medical facility. He felt small flickers of fear when he saw it.

Had Padmé's injuries been more severe than he thought? Had his nightmares played out while he was busy on Coruscant? Did he kill her, and their child with her?

No, she had been alive; he had seen her flee from him. Maybe it had been Obi-Wan who was injured. He had defeated Grievous and somehow survived Order 66. The odds of him escaping completely unscathed were low.

He couldn't sense either of them in the Force, but Kenobi could be shielding them.

A medical droid was there to greet him when Vader exited the ship, the hood of his robe over his head in order to conceal his identity.

"Hello. I am G4-XO, the receptionist. Are you in need of treatment?"

Vader ignored the droid's question as he swept past it into the medical facility. Unfortunately, it followed him.

"My scans indicate that you are currently suffering from dehydration, exhaustion, smoke inhalation, and neurochemical damage that will require deeper scans to fully diagnose. Do you wish…"

The sound of the droid's voice faded as Vader strode deeper into the facility, intent on finding an actual doctor.

He heard a door whoosh open behind him moments after the Force warned him of the presence of another being. Vader whirled around, his robes swirling with him, to see a Zabrak woman with long black hair, wearing a white lab coat, her eyes glued to a datapad, enter the hallway.

"Doctor," he called out as she turned down the hall, catching her attention.

The doctor smiled politely. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for my wife. She's pregnant, about 8 months along, and she was kidnapped," Vader said, hoping that playing on a doctor's naturally compassionate nature would get him what he wanted.

The only sign that the doctor had even heard him was a slight narrowing of her eyes, but it was enough. She knew where Padmé was, Vader was sure of it.

"I'm not at liberty to divulge any of my patients' information. Doctor-patient confidentiality," the doctor sniffed.

Vader channeled his surge of anger into the Force and used it to push the doctor into a wall and pin her there, putting a light pressure around her neck. He relished the look of fear in her eyes as he stalked towards her.

"Where is she?" he hissed, inches from her face.

The doctor glared back at him. "Gone," she spat out.

Vader faltered. Surely she couldn't mean- he would have felt it if- Padmé was not dead. She couldn't be.

"Tell me what you know," he commanded. When the doctor was silent, he tightened the Force hold around her neck a little. "Tell me!"

"She was… in labor," the doctor gasped. "Dying… her trachea… partly crushed… bleeding out from birth."

Vader abruptly released the doctor in shock, not even noticing as the woman slumped to the floor, coughing. He felt as if his heart had frozen in his chest.

Had he killed Padmé?

"Shifters heal faster -ahem- than their non-Shifter -ahem hem- counterparts, which is why we saved -ahem- both her and the babies," the doctor coughed out.

He felt like he had just been struck by lightning, but in a good way. The constant burn that had persisted in his eyes since he had pledged himself to Sidious faded. Padmé was alive! And their baby- wait, babies?

"Babies?" he asked.

"Female and male. Both completely healthy and completely out of your reach," the doctor announced smugly.

The burning returned to Vader's eyes as his rage resurfaced. "What did you do?"

"She had clearly been attacked by a Force user; I gave her pamphlets for women's shelters and didn't ask questions in case you came to call," the doctor sneered.

Vader recoiled as if struck. "I would _never_ hurt her."

 _Except you did,_ a small part of him whispered.

 _She betrayed me! It was her fault,_ he insisted.

 _Don't lie to yourself._

The doctor rolled her eyes. "I don't know what you Jedi think counts as hurting someone, but a we normal people count inflicting nearly fatal damage to a person as hurting them at the least."

"I'm not a Jedi," Vader snarled. Folding his anger around him like a cloak, Vader picked the doctor up with the Force and flung her away, not caring where she landed.

It didn't take him long to find the pamphlets. Vader grabbed all of them, even though he knew the odds of Padmé actually going to one of the women's shelters was low. They wouldn't admit Kenobi, after all.

As he walked back to his ship, something suddenly occurred to Vader. His dream hadn't come true; Padmé had survived childbirth. He no longer had any need for help from Sidious. He owed the other Sith _nothing_. What was to stop him from cutting Sidious out of his life and his head? If Vader left the bond there, Sidious could use it to find him, and he wouldn't be pleased with the quest to find Padmé.

So, Vader did the only sensible thing: he destroyed first his comm and then his bond to his former Sith Master. He would, of course, have to do intensive meditation to remove any lingering traces of Sidious from his mind, but that could wait until after he found his wife.

And maybe, now that he was no longer working with Sidious, he could convince Obi-Wan to help him kill the bastard and give the galaxy to Padmé.


	3. Loaded for Bear part 1

A/N: This section is going to be at least two chapters, maybe more.

0o0o0

The first year on Tatooine was the worst.

Padmé had researched how to take care of babies during her pregnancy, so she knew in theory how to take care of Luke and Leia, but theory was a little easier than practice. Obi-Wan had experience with small children from volunteering in the creché, but the Jedi had never taken in many newborns. Neither of them knew very much about how to survive in a desert.

Owen and Beru were a Force-sent blessing.

Even so, they spent most of the first years exhausted and emotionally raw. The shadow of Anakin hung over them, of everything he had done, of how much they had both loved him.

There wasn't much room in the Lars' household, so the Amidala-Kenobi family all slept in one room. There were many sleepless night, both because of the babies and because of their worries and fears of the Empire- of Anakin finding them.

Three months into their exile was the first time either of them heard about Anakin, about how he had defected from the Imperial Army the day he had been appointed Supreme Commander, and how he was now Public Enemy No. 1 in Imperial space.

In the secret depths of her heart, Padmé hoped that her husband had changed, had come back to the light, but she never voiced these hopes to Obi-Wan. She knew how the Jedi felt about the Sith.

Luke and Leia learned to walk during their second year on Tatooine. Obi-Wan also began to watch them even more closely, which made Padmé feel vaguely worried. She didn't know exactly when Jedi used to begin their training, but she knew she didn't want her kids to start until they were old enough to choose for themselves. She also knew that they might be forced to learn just to stay safe from the Empire, but she chose not to think about that.

When she confronted him about it though, Obi-Wan just smiled sheepishly behind his beard.

"I'm not sure when Shifters start, well, shifting, so I wanted to be on the lookout," he explained.

Padmé snorted, unable to hold back all of her laugh. "Don't worry. They won't start Changing until after they learn how to talk. Although," she paused and glanced around, checking to make sure they were alone. "I'm a little worried about what their second forms will be."

Obi-Wan furrowed his brow in confusion. "Why's that?"

"Well, the odds are about even that they'll take after me, but they could also Change into one of Tatooine's native species. I really don't want to deal with two baby Krayt dragons," Padmé admitted.

"Oh. Oh dear, that would be rather difficult, wouldn't it?" Obi-Wan said.

After their conversation, Obi-Wan disappeared into the desert for two weeks. While he was gone, Padmé realized that she should also tell Owen and Beru about when Luke and Leia would start Changing. They took the news with a stoic, practical calm that all seasoned farmers seemed to possess.

When Obi-Wan returned from his sabbatical, he was able to imitate the animal call of every native animal species on Tatooine, much to the twins' delight.

"The Krayt dragon call was the hardest one to learn," Obi-Wan admitted to her one night after the twins had fallen asleep. "The Living Force has never been my strong suit. That was always my Master's area of expertise."

"Thank you," Padmé whispered, wrapping him up in a hug. Obi-Wan stiffened for a moment, still not entirely used to such things, before relaxing. She released him a moment later, but even the small hug seemed to have made him less on edge.

"Why haven't you ever asked about what happened on Mustafar?" Obi-Wan asked suddenly.

Padmé shrugged. "I figured you would tell me when you were ready."

Obi-Wan slowly drew in a deep breathe and then released all at once. "Thank you. I'm not ready yet, but soon."

Five months later, something happened that made any further stay on Tatooine impossible.

Luke and Leia were kidnapped.

It was on one of their rare visits to Mos Eisley to pick up supplies they desperately needed but couldn't get elsewhere. Padmé had set them down for a second, and when she looked back, they were gone. At first, she thought they might have just wandered off, so she Changed her nose enough to get a scent.

The scents of her children were permanently imprinted into her brain, so Padmé picked them out easily despite the strong odors of unwashed bodies and dung that pervaded the streets. What made her immediately dismiss any idea that Luke and Leia had wandered off by themselves was the strong stench of fear that pervaded their scents.

A snarl rumbled up from Padmé's chest, and she did nothing to suppress it. The beings around her began to smell nervous, and they edged away from her. For a moment, she considered Changing completely and hunting down the scum who had kidnapped her children and ripping them to shreds, but she dismissed the idea. Shifters weren't looked upon kindly on Tatooine, and she might get shot before she found them. There wasn't even any time to call Obi-Wan for backup.

Padmé tracked her children through the marketplace, close enough behind their kidnapper that she was able to see the speeder that held them drive away even as she sprinted towards them. Her fury grew to staggering heights when she noticed that the speeder was headed to Jabba's Palace.

She commed Obi-Wan as she dashed back to her speeder, knowing that she was going to need backup if she wanted to storm Jabba's Palace.

"Did something go wrong at the market?" he asked as soon as he picked up her comm.

"Someone kidnapped Luke and Leia, and they're headed to Jabba's Palace," Padmé explained curtly.

"I'll meet you there," was all Obi-Wan said before he hung up.

Padmé's face settled into a cold expression. They would pay for taking her children, each and every person who touched a single hair on their heads. There would be no escape for any of them.


	4. Loaded for Bear part 2

Padmé would have waited for Obi-Wan to show up so that they could storm Jabba's Palace together, but she could smell her children inside. Their scent was heavy with distress, and so Padmé wasn't thinking much beyond _Save my children at all costs._

It was actually very easy to get into Jabba's Palace. The droid at the door had no way of knowing Jabba wasn't expecting her, and the Gamorreans were too stupid to realize she shouldn't be allowed in. Bib Fortuna was a bit of a challenge, but he apparently recognized her and so brought her before the Hutt.

"Greetings mighty Jabba," Padmé said as she bowed. "I have come in search of my children, who were stolen from me."

Jabba gurgled something to his translator that made the other criminals in the room burst into laughter.

"The mighty Jabba wishes to know why you think he would steal your children, as he has no need for baby humans," the protocol droid translated.

"I have tracked them here, and I know they are somewhere in this building. Know this, Jabba, if you try to keep my children from me I will destroy you," she warned, her eyes narrowing.

Jabba laughed and spat something in Huttese before grabbing a slimy creature and shoving it in his mouth.

The mighty Jabba says that there is a hefty bounty on your head, Senator Amidala, and if you leave now he will not be collecting it in return for your aid in bringing back his son," the droid translated.

Padmé glared. "I will not leave until I have my children, and if I have to rip this place to the ground then so be it."

Jabba laughed contemptuously and reached for a lever next to his platform. Too late, Padmé realized she had been standing on a trap door as it opened and dropped her into a pit.

A door on the side of the pit cranked upwards, revealing a rancor, which snarled and lumbered towards her.

On Naboo, the majority of the prey animals were large, large enough that if a stream-bear were to get caught beneath their feet, it would mean death. The bears had evolved to be fast and deadly.

Knowing this, Padmé snarled right back at the rancor and Changed, dropping to all fours.

The rancor reached for her, but Padmé was already behind it, slashing at its legs with her claws. She didn't need to kill it, just disable it enough that she could get past it. She could smell her children, along with numerous other beings, from the area the rancor had been released from.

The rancor howled and stumbled back, nearly stepping on her. Its claws clipped her side as it wildly swung its arms about. Padmé could smell her own blood, but she forced the pain aside.

She growled at it again, a challenge this time. The rancor was twice as big as she was, but it was also hurt now. It paused for a moment, then screeched and attacked again.

This time when Padmé got behind it, she bit down on its leg, feeling muscles and tendons sever and bones crunch beneath her teeth. She almost gagged at the taste of its flesh and blood.

The rancor fell with a screech, pulling itself away from her. Padmé let it back itself into a corner; she wouldn't approach it now that it was seriously wounded. Wounded animals were more dangerous, especially if they felt threatened by a predator.

The beings in Jabba's court booed at her, one of them even throwing a bottle that missed her and hit the rancor. Padmé roared at them, then turned her attention to the tunnel beyond which she could smell her children.

The only obstacle was a heavy metal grate. There were also numerous beings beyond the grate, but she didn't count them as true obstacles. Padmé was just considering running into the grate full force in order to open it when it was suddenly cranked upwards.

The beings on the other side of the grate backed away from Padmé in babbling panic, several of them reaching for blasters as she stalked towards them. The sudden hum of a lightsaber igniting silenced them.

"I really do wish you'd waited for me, Padmé," Obi-Wan said casually as he strolled over from the grate lever. "I had to take a back way in, and it wasn't very pleasant."

Padmé stared at him, conveying her impatience with a look.

"Right then, I believe the twins are this way," Obi-Wan gestured down the hall from which Padmé could detect their scent.

Padmé snorted. Her nose was 18 thousand times stronger when she was in her second form; she had already known where to go.

"Hold up, Jedi scum. You're not going anywhere," one of the beings, a Trandoshan, declared, pointing his blaster at them and glaring.

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow in amusement. "And you're going to stop me, I suppose."

"Of course," the Trandoshan sniffed.

"Your funeral," Obi-Wan shrugged. Padmé growled lowly; she was getting irritated. Who knew what was happening to Luke and Leia right now! "You see, someone kidnapped her children, and I'm fairly certain she'll go through all of you if she has to."

Padmé bared her teeth in a silent snarl and pushed herself up onto her hind legs so that she towered over everyone.

The Trandoshan's scales rustled softly, and it stepped out of the way, traces of fear evident in its scent.

Padmé dropped back down onto all fours and ran down the hall, all patience gone. Luke and Leia needed her.

"Padmé, wait!" Obi-Wan called after her, but she didn't listen. They were so close.

The scent trail led her to a locked door. Padmé growled and brought her forepaws up to slam against the door. Something was off in Leia's scent.

Obi-Wan caught up to her a moment later, his lightsaber still lit.

"Allow me," he said, gesturing to the door.

Padmé stepped back, and he slowly, carefully cut through the door.


	5. Loaded for Bear part 3

A/N: To all of you who have left reviews on any of my fics, thank you so much. If I haven't responded to it, it's not that I didn't appreciate it, it's that the website wouldn't let me. So if you review and I don't respond, then I'll say now, thank you.

0o0o0

"Mama!" Luke called from where he leaned against the side of a ten foot long greater Krayt dragon. He clumsily pushed himself to his feet before overbalancing and flopping back into the side of the dragon.

The dragon chirruped at Padmé, who had rushed into the room when Luke started to fall, shouldering Obi-Wan out of the way.

"Padmé, wait," Obi-Wan said futily. "Watch out for the dragon."

Obi-Wan didn't have the advantages of a stream-bear's nose; Padmé had known the dragon was Leia's second form mere seconds after Luke had spoken. It figured Leia would be the first one to Change; she had been the first one to start talking.

"Mama, Leia stuck," Luke said, patting at his sister's scaly hide.

Padmé sighed and Changed back into her first form, kneeling down by her daughter's head. Obi-Wan wordlessly handed her his robe, by now used to giving it to her after she Changed.

"Good job, Leia," Padmé crooned, running a hand over the top of Leia's head. "Mama's really proud of you, sweetheart."

Leia hummed and shuffled closer to Padmé.

"I know this is kinda scary, Changing for the first time. I got stuck too, did you know that?"

Luke giggled while Leia shook her head.

"I did, but then my Mama told me to remember what it felt like to have fingers and toes. What it felt like to walk on two legs, to have a tiny little nose," Padmé bopped Leia on the nose. Leia blinked, her eyes crossing as she stared down at her nose. "Do you remember how to talk, Leia?"

Leia blinked and nodded before furrowing her brow in concentration. Her Change was slow and awkward, coming in starts and stops. Her hands and feet shrank down, losing scales and claws until they looked human again. Then her tail and her extra three sets of legs melted back into her body, and her legs became human shaped, although they were still dragon sized. The rest of her scales flowed back under her skin, and her eyes changed to those of a human. The rest of her face followed suit, and then she shrank down completely to her human size. Her hair was the last thing to appear, especially visible from her eyelashes, eyebrows, and scalp.

She burst into tears as soon as it was over, hiccuping sobs that shook her body, which then made Luke start crying too.

Padmé settled down onto the floor and scooped Leia onto her lap, humming gently as she ran her hand through her daughter's hair. She wrapped her other arm around Luke, who immediately buried his face in her side.

"It's okay, dears, Mama's here now," Padmé soothed.

Obi-Wan took up a guard position just outside the door, ensuring that she would have the time she needed to calm down the twins.

Finally, their sobs petered to a stop.

"We need to leave now, so you're going to have to ride on my back, okay?" Padmé said as she set them down and slipped off Obi-Wan's robe.

The twins nodded their agreement, Leia rubbing at her eyes while Luke sniffled.

Padmé Changed into her second form and lowered herself to the ground so that the twins could clamber up onto her back. Once she was sure that they were situated, Padmé stood up. Four little hands dug into the fur on Padmé's back.

Obi-Wan reentered the room long enough to scoop his robe up off the floor. "Shall we?"

Padmé huffed.

They warily walked down the corridor, Obi-Wan taking the lead, his lightsaber in his hand.

"Oh dear," he muttered when they passed the rancor pit. "It appears the rancor wasn't too injured to walk. I can only hope we don't come across it."

Padmé snorted in agreement. She wouldn't be able to fight the rancor now, with Luke and Leia on her back. Obi-Wan would probably be able to fight it on his own though.

They discovered the fate of the rancor when they reached Jabba's throne room. Its corpse was stretched across Jabba's platform, riddled with blaster burns. Jabba's corpse was a few yards away, barely even recognizable from the claw and bite marks.

"It's almost ironic," Obi-Wan mused. "The rancor spent its life killing people for Jabba's pleasure, and the last person it killed was Jabba."

Padmé huffed and headed for the exit. Luke and Leia didn't need to be around the corpses any longer than absolutely necessary.

The door was hanging wide open, and some sand had already blown inside.

Obi-Wan was carefully securing the twins to his speeder when another pulled up.

"We thought you might need some help," Owen said, a blaster in his hand. "So Beru sent me on ahead."

"Thank you, but the situation is completely under control. Although," Obi-Wan paused delicately. "I do believe a power vacuum has been created, so it may be tense in Mos Eisley for a while."

Owen narrowed his eyes. "What happened?"

"An unfortunate accident. The rancor got loose, you see. There was nothing we could do to prevent Jabba's death," Obi-Wan said.

Padmé snorted. Obi-Wan hadn't lied.

She Changed back to her first form and donned Obi-Wan's robe again before climbing onto the speeder with Luke and Leia. Obi-Wan shared the other speeder with his brother.

They made good time returning to the farm, no Tusken Raiders or surprise Krayt dragons to stall them. It took even less time to pack up all of their belongings. Luke and Leia were sad about having to go, and they promised Owen and Beru that they would come back and visit in a few years.

It had been almost three years since anyone had seen Anakin, so Padmé felt that it would be safe to leave the planet. Also, there would likely be people looking for them, bounty hunters hired by other Hutts, that would make it dangerous to stay any longer.

By the end of the day, their family was on a ship to Alderaan. It was time for them to leave Tatooine and rejoin the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

A/N: The next installment will feature Vader, along with a surprise character.


	6. Bear Necessities part 1

Anger drove Vader during his first year of searching. However, it quickly turned to desperation when he went three months with a single lead. That desperation drove him for another year, a need to be with his family: Padmé, their children, even Obi-Wan.

He started systematically searching all the planets of the Outer Rim halfway through the second year, figuring that they wouldn't hide in any other areas of the galaxy. Except Tatooine. He avoided Tatooine, unwilling to step foot on the planet where his mother died.

He was searching the planet Lothal when a wary call of "Skyguy?" stopped him in his tracks.

He turned. Ahsoka was standing in the doorway of a nearby home, staring at him with shock and wariness on her face. She was taller than he remembered, her lekku and montrals longer, and the blue stripes had begun to acquire a jagged pattern. She wasn't wearing the akul-tooth headdress he remembered.

"Ahsoka. What are you doing on Lothal?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes. "It's good to see you too, Anakin. Or is it Darth Vader now?"

He reflexively checked to make sure no one was listening, then stalked over to her, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Keep your voice down," he hissed.

"Relax, will you. The Empire doesn't have much of a presence in the Outer Rim, and no one cares about Lothal," Ahsoka said.

"Then why are you here?" Vader asked.

Ahsoka raised one marking and crossed her arms over her chest. "I could ask you the same question."

"I'm looking for Padmé and Obi-Wan."

"And I'm guessing the fact that you Fell makes them really eager to be found," Ahsoka snorted.

Vader narrowed his eyes. "Are you going to try and kill me? It's what a Jedi would do."

Ahsoka burst into laughter. "I'm not a Jedi, and even if I were, I've got more important things to do."

"You're a Rebel," Vader suddenly realized.

"Yeah, and as far as the Empire is concerned, so are you," Ahsoka shot back.

"You know where they are," he growled, ignoring her previous statement as his anger kindling to life.

Ahsoka looked unimpressed. "If they wanted you to find them, then you would have."

She turned to leave, but Vader grabbed her shoulder. He couldn't just let her leave.

"I still consider you family, Ahsoka, even though you left -"

Ahsoka knocked his hand off of her shoulder and glared back at him. "I _had_ to leave. I couldn't take the risk that I would Fall like Krell, or Barriss, or so many others, especially after the Order turned their backs on me. I didn't want to be what you've become."

Vader suppressed a flinch, then pushed on. "The Dark side is so much more powerful than the Light, Ahsoka. If you could just try it, just once, you'd see."

"You sound like an addict." Her words were sharp as a vibroblade.

"I _need_ to find them. Please, Ahsoka, I'm begging you," Vader said, almost pleading.

Her eyes widened. "You Fell for them, or because of them."

The Force rang with the truth of her statement.

"You did! Force, how could you think that they would _ever_ want you to do that?" she asked, incredulously resting her forehead on one of her hands.

"I would have done it if I thought it was the only way to save you from dying too," Anakin muttered, looking down.

Ahsoka sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Please. Padmé was pregnant." He was about ready to get down on his knees.

"We will be taking my ship, and I will accompany you at all times," Ahsoka said firmly. "Or I won't tell you anything."

"Yes, yes, thank you, thank you so much, Snips," he almost sobbed, sweeping her into a hug. The sense of relief he felt knowing that he had almost caught up with Obi-Wan and Padmé was staggering.

Ahsoka shrugged out of the hug, evidently still a little upset with him, and began walking away.

"Come on," she called back over her shoulder when he didn't move. "My ship's this way."

0o0o0

"Are you serious?" he asked incredulously, staring at the coordinates Ahsoka had put in the navcomputer. "Obi-Wan and Padmé are on Tatooine?"

Ahsoka nodded absently as she carefully steered the ship out of Lothal's atmosphere. "Yup. Obi-Wan has family there, apparently, so they've been staying with them since the Republic fell."

He felt like banging his head against the nearest flat surface. The only planet on the Outer Rim he hadn't wanted to search was where they chose to stay. And how had he never known that Obi-Wan had family on Tatooine? How did Ahsoka even know about Obi-Wan's secret family?

When he asked her that question, Ahsoka just shrugged and said "I asked."

He could feel some of his hold over his temper fracturing. It had been difficult for him to learn to keep a grip on it after he Fell.

He didn't say anything when she typed up and sent off a message just before they jumped into hyperspace, almost positive that she was communicating with the Rebellion.

Eventually, though, the silence grew too oppressive, and he had to say something.

"So… what have you been doing since you left the Order?"

She stared at him for a quiet moment before she replied. "Helping people. The Empire's still weak; it's easy to slip by unnoticed."

"Ah," he said, not entirely sure how to respond.

They sank back into silence, unsure of what to say to each other.

0o0o0

He began to feel a horrible sense of deja vu when Ahsoka set the ship down by a farmhouse that had haunted his nightmares.

"Obi-Wan is related to the Lars'?" Anakin asked.

"You know them?"

He pushed past her, exiting the ship. "It doesn't matter anymore."

As soon as he set foot on Tatooine, he knew. Obi-Wan, Padmé, his children, _none of them_ were here. Ahsoka had _lied to him._

Vader could feel his anger rising, his eyes beginning to burn with the force of it. His fragile restraint had been fraying since he learned that they would be going to Tatooine, and now it had snapped. Someone was going to _pay_.


	7. Bear Necessities part 2

Ahsoka had a moment of warning from the Force before she heard the sound of a lightsaber igniting. She began to reach for her own lightsabers, but froze when she felt the burn of a 'saber blade near her neck.

"You lied to me," Anakin snarled, glaring at her with fiery yellow eyes.

Ahsoka slowly raised her arms up by her head to show that she wasn't a threat. "I didn't lie about anything."

"Did you think I wouldn't know? That I wouldn't be able to tell as soon as we got here that they _aren't here_?" he continued, as if she hadn't said anything.

"Anakin, calm down!" Ahsoka shouted. It was absolutely the wrong thing to say, but she was past caring. If Obi-Wan and Padmé were gone, then something bad had happened. "They should be here, and if they aren't then something's happened to them. We don't have time for your dramatics!"

"I am completely calm!" Anakin yelled back before he froze, drawing his lightsaber away from her neck. "Wait, what are you-"

That opening was all she needed. Ahsoka called her lightsabers to her hands and had both of them ignited in a defensive position before he could get another word out.

They stared at each other above the glowing blades of their lightsabers, tensed and ready to move at a second's notice. Neither of them moved. All was silent, the Force stilled in anticipation.

The sudden beeping of Ahsoka's comm broke the tension, Anakin extinguishing his lightsaber first.

"Are you going to attack me once I turn my back?" Ahsoka asked warily.

Anakin shook his head. "It might be news about them."

She didn't take her eyes off of him as she turned off both of her lightsabers and clipped them to her belt then made her way over to answer the comm.

"I flew past a yellow star on my way home," Ahsoka said, the code phrase indicating that she had company.

A spinning image of the Alliance symbol appeared. "Did it have three planets or four?" a deep voice asked.

Ahsoka couldn't keep the slight smile from edging onto her face. "Only one planet. It's good to hear from you, Ben."

"I didn't get your message until we were already off planet," Obi-Wan said. "Otherwise we would have been there to greet you."

"What happened? I thought the plan was to stay here for five years before joining back up with the rest of the Alliance?" Ahsoka asked, ignoring Anakin's questioning looks.

"We ran into a little trouble with Jabba. Apparently there's a bounty on Force sensitive children," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin growled and the Force grew cold with the strength of his anger.

"No need to worry, though," Obi-Wan continued. "River and I took care of it."

"Who's River?" Anakin asked.

Ahsoka ignored him. "Glad to hear everything's okay. Do you have a location in mind for a meet-up? I have a guest who needs to see you and River."

There was a pause, and then "We'll be on Alderaan in a week. I'll send you more details in two days."

"Alderaan in a week," Ahsoka repeated. "Fulcrum out."

She closed the connection and leaned back into the wall with a sigh.

"Thank you," Anakin said quietly, dropping his gaze to the floor.

Ahsoka sighed again, heavier this time. "Just don't attack me again."

She pushed off of the wall and walked out of her ship to go and reassure the Lars that everything was alright, almost missing the whispered "Sorry," from Anakin.

0o0o0

Padmé sat on her bed and pulled her hair back into a single braid that lay flat against her back, letting the feeling of her hair flowing through her fingers banish some of her nerves.

It was just Anakin. She was just going to see Anakin for the first time in three years.

Her brain unhelpfully reminded her that Anakin had helped bring down the Republic, killed so many Jedi, and attacked her. She lost all of the progress she'd made against her nerves by braiding her hair.

"Mama, why does your tummy hurt?" Leia asked, startling Padmé.

She pushed a smile onto her face as she leaned down to pull her daughter into her lap. "I'm nervous, sweetheart."

Leia tilted her head to the side as she thought about Padmé's response. "Why?"

Padmé bit back the urge to sigh. 'Why' had become Leia's favorite word ever since they left Tatooine. "Because I'm going to meet someone that I haven't seen in awhile very soon."

"Oh," Leia said, seeming to accept that answer. "Will you braid my hair like yours, Mama?"

"Of course, honey," Padmé replied.

It didn't take long to braid Leia's hair - she didn't have as much of it - but Padmé felt much calmer when she was done.

Obi-Wan stuck his head into the room. "We've landed."

Padmé lifted Leia off of her lap and set her on the floor. "Remember what I told you and Luke? You have to stay on the ship until either I or Obi-Wan comes to get you."

Leia nodded and scampered off, likely to find Luke.

Padmé pulled in a deep breath, wrapped her calm around herself like a cloak, and let the air escape. She was ready. She let the calmness bleed into confidence. Padmé had gone to her execution with her head held high; she could face her husband.

"Let's go," she said.

Obi-Wan nodded and stepped aside, letting her precede him.

She didn't see him when she walked out of the ship, although she did notice Ahsoka waiting for them.

"Padmé!" Ahsoka exclaimed happily, wrapping her in a tight hug before switching to Obi-Wan. "And Obi-Wan! It's so good to see you two."

"You've gotten even taller, I see," Obi-Wan noted.

Ahsoka smirked. "I'm taller than Skyguy now."

"Speaking of Anakin, where is he?" Padmé asked.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "He's still back in the ship. He claimed he needed to do some last minute checks on his arm.

"I'll go get him," Padmé offered before she could stop herself.

Obi-Wan looked like he wanted to argue, but all he said was "Be careful."

A/N: The last chapter will go up on Friday.


	8. Bear Necessities part 3

Padmé was able to keep up her confidence as she walked into Ahsoka's ship, the hug doing a lot to help her. Ahsoka hadn't seemed frightened, just exasperated, and she'd called him Skyguy. Maybe he'd been able to let go of the darkness.

Anakin was cleaning up when she stepped into his room, wiping down his workstation with a dirty rag.

He froze when she walked in, his eyes locking with hers. They were blue.

Dueling urges to flee back to the safety of her ship and to run into his arms kept her locked in place. She stared at him, unblinking, as he cautiously stepped towards her as if she was a wild animal about to bolt or tear into him. It was an apt comparison, considering her last encounter with him.

"Padmé," he whispered reverently, lifting up a hand.

She flinched, the gesture embedded too deeply in her nightmares for her to fully suppress the motion.

Anakin looked like he'd been stabbed.

"I'm sorry, Padmé, Force, I'm so sorry -"

"The others are waiting for us outside," Padmé said, cutting off his apology. It wasn't enough, not after everything he'd done, not yet, and if she had to listen to anymore of it she was going to lose her confidence and her calm.

She turned and left, hearing Anakin fall into step behind her.

Padmé had forgiven him not long after the twins were born, unable to hold onto her anger, but she hadn't forgotten.

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka fell silent when they stepped outside, the weight of words unsaid hanging heavy in the air.

Anakin was the first to move, walking past Padmé and collapsing to his knees at Obi-Wan's feet.

"Thank you, Master," he said. "Thank you for saving her from me, thank you."

A pained look crossed Obi-Wan's face before he pulled Anakin to his feet.

"I'm sorry," Obi-Wan said, shocking everyone. "I failed you, Anakin. I failed you so badly that you felt that you could trust Palpatine over me. I would never have been able to kill you like I was asked because I love you. You're my brother, Anakin."

Both of them began to cry.

Ahsoka leaned over to Padmé and said in an undertone "I'm going to go see the twins, okay?"

Padmé nodded, and Ahsoka edged her way around Obi-Wan and Anakin, who were now hugging.

Before Ahsoka could slip onto the ship, Leia burst out, shrieking "Mama, Luke's chasing me!"

Leia ran over and grabbed Padmé's leg, hiding behind her as Luke came barreling out of the ship in his second form. His fur was sticking up all over, tied with blue ribbons, giving Padmé a hint as to why he was chasing Leia. Luke _hated_ the color blue.

"Leia, you know Luke doesn't like blue," Padmé scolded.

"He asked me to do his fur, and that's the only color of ribbon I could find," Leia giggled.

Luke ran over and lifted himself onto his hind legs, complaining loudly.

Padmé sighed and pulled the ribbons from Luke's fur. "I told you to stay in the ship."

Luke Changed back into his first form, his blue eyes filling with tears. "I'm sorry, Mama."

Padmé's eyes widened before she swooped down and picked him up. "No, no sweetie, it's okay," she said as she petted his hair, letting him sniffle against her collarbone.

Luke always got very upset whenever he broke one of her rules by accident or through forgetfulness, a trait that Leia didn't share.

Obi-Wan pulled away from Anakin, shrugging off his robe and handing it to Padmé, who wrapped Luke up in it with her free hand.

Anakin was staring at them in shock.

"Is that them?" he asked, dumbstruck.

Padmé fought back a smile as Leia peeked out from behind her leg at Anakin.

"Mama, who's that?" she asked.

"That's your dad," Padmé responded.

Leia gasped. "Really?"

Luke curled his fists into Obi-Wan's robe as he peered out from under his fringe at Anakin.

Out of the corner of her eye, Padmé noticed Ahsoka and Obi-Wan sneak onto their ship, but most of her attention was on Leia, Luke, and Anakin.

Leia lifted her chin and boldly approached Anakin. "I'm Leia."

Anakin knelt down so that he was the same height as her. "It's very nice to meet you Leia."

"Do you want to go say hi, Luke?" Padmé asked in a whisper.

Luke nodded, so she set him down on the ground. He wrapped Obi-Wan's robe around himself and shuffled over to stand next to Leia. He didn't say anything, just stared at Anakin.

Anakin glanced up at Padmé, then back at the twins. "Hi, Luke, I'm your dad."

Luke suddenly smiled brightly and then Changed into his second form. Anakin shot Padmé a look of alarm and confusion as Luke jumped up into his lap. Luke was still a cub, so he fit just fine.

Not to be outdone by her brother, Leia wiggled into Anakin's side for a hug.

Padmé hesitated for only a moment before she joined her family's group hug.

A tiny ember of hope in her chest flickered to life. Now that her family was safe, the real work could begin.

0o0o0

It took them two months to plan their infiltration of the Imperial Palace, two months that were also occupied with healing emotional wounds and learning how to live with each other again.

When at last the time came, the twins were entrusted to the care of Bail and Breha, who had been instrumental in planning but would not join in the actual assault.

Anakin was the bait, meant to catch Palpatine off guard and grab his attention.

Ahsoka and a squad of clones she'd recruited and dechipped handled the Red Guards.

Obi-Wan was a bluff, meant to attack Palpatine with Anakin and make him think that there wasn't anyone else lurking in the shadows, that they were throwing everyone they had at him.

Padmé was the knife - or rather, claws - in his back, undetectable in the Force with a modified inhibitor cuff around her paw. She tore off Palpatine's head while he was distracted with Anakin and Obi-Wan.

The Emperor was dead, and the rebuilding of the galaxy could begin.


End file.
